'Imperfect 10'? Cowboys Get Sky's-The-Limit Win at Giants
Coach Mike McCarthy this week chided any media members who dared talk about his Dallas Cowboys and the NFL playoffs in the same sentence. It is his in-house policy to avoid such gum-flapping until his team achieves its 10th win.
Tenth win achieved.
Welcome, gum-flapping.
Cowboys 21, Giants 6 on NFL Sunday Week 15 did not, interestingly, lock Dallas into an NFC East title. (That can be sorted out after other games are played this week). Nor did it convince the world (or Cowboys Nation) that this is a perfect football team.
As McCarthy said after the game: “This is the time of year when things start to sort itself out.”
So ... let's get specific: As near as we can tell, if the Falcons win at San Francisco this afternoon, the Cowboys clinch a playoff spot.
But the Cowboys are now 10-4, and entering the weekend, there were only four NFL teams with that many wins ... and they are almost certainly not going to be caught ... and maybe McCarthy's "Rule of 10'' is among the reasons.
"We take it game by game, for sure," receiver Amari Cooper said this week. "Coach Mike McCarthy preaches to us not even to think about the playoff picture until you get 10 wins ...''
Cooper and Dallas' weaponry are also among the reasons for success, of course. Stellar rookie linebacker Micah Parsons has led the Dallas defense to at times carry the club while the quarterback Dak Prescott-led offense has struggled, and that occurred against the 4-10 Giants in New Jersey.
For this defense, struggles were few.
But does Dallas' third straight win quiet those who believe Dak is in a "slump''? Probably not.
"I think it's the right time for us to turn it on," said Prescott (28 of 37 for 217 yards and a TD to the busy Dalton Schultz), spending the week downplayed the "slump'' idea before trying to prove on Sunday that he's out of it.
He'll keep trying to prove that.
Instead, the Dallas running game proved something. Ezekiel Elliott, who for the second straight week wore a brace on his ailing right knee, had gone five straight games without reaching 50 yards rushing, the longest such stretch of his six-year career. ... and yeah, that's a "slump,'' too. Here, even with left tackle Tyron Smith out? Well, OK, Zeke totaled just over 50, with 16 carries for 52 yards a TD. But he looked powerful and crisp, something that hasn't always been the case in the last month. And his caddie, Tony Pollard, battling that torn plantar fascia in his foot, pitched in with 12 carries for 74 yards.
Jaylon Smith, the former Cowboys linebacker signed this weekend by the Giants, was assigned to try to stop Dallas. But the Giants don't have the roster to hang with Dallas, as proven in both blowout meetings this year, right down to Schultz, who caught eight for 67.
The Giants were without starting quarterback Daniel Jones for the third straight week, so veteran journeyman Mike Glennon was the New York starter. But it wouldn't have mattered; the Dallas defensive talent base of Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory totaled just one sack, but the pressure led to a trio of interceptions and a total of four takeaways (making it three straight games with that number), including the NFL-best 10th for Trevon Diggs, who could join Parsons as an NFL Defensive Player of the Year finalist.
Said Parsons this week: "The sky's the limit for all of us really."
The Dallas Cowboys now have 10 wins. They have permission to talk about "the sky.'' They have permission to talk about "the playoffs.''
